Add/Edit Email Templates

Email templates can increase response time and improve consistency of messages sent from your dealership.  Email templates consist of a subject line and body of text that can be customized before sending if necessary.  Email templates can also include merge codes that automatically add Prospect-specific content to the message.

Web Control has some basic templates available, but you can also create templates for individual or dealership-wide use.

For more information on Email templates, go to:

Create an email template

Merge Codes

Edit an existing template

Create a new template from an existing template

Add Flash templates

Delete a template

 

To create an email template

To create an email template:

  1. Click the Tools tab.

  2. From the Templates section, click Add/Edit Email Templates.

  3. For dealerships that use the Internet Sales and Customer portions of Web Control, verify or change the module where you want to create the template.

  4. Type a title for the template in the Title field.  

  5. Type the subject line for the template in the Template Subject field.  This is the subject line the Prospect sees when they receive the email.

    Notes:

    • The Template Subject is what the Prospect will see in their Email Inbox.  Use words that get attention, but avoid words that might cause the message to be classified as SPAM.  See Broadcast Email Blocking for more information on avoiding your message being filtered out as SPAM.

    • The Title line is what you see in the Template list.  Use words that will help you remember what the message is about.

  6. Type the text of the email message in the text window.  You can also include merge codes and images to quickly personalize or add visual interest to the message.  

     

Notes:

  • Email messages can contain a maximum of 8,000 characters.  If you are using HTML formatting, this includes the html code as well.  You can see HTML coding by clicking the HTML tab at the bottom of the message window.

  • Email messages can be a maximum of 2MB, including attachments.  Messages larger than 2MB cannot be delivered.

  • Do not copy text or images from a web page and paste them into your text window.  Formatting is often lost, extra characters may be added, and images will not display correctly.

  • You can copy a template from a Microsoft Word document.  However, you must first save the content as Web Page, Filtered (*.htm, *.html).

  • You have the option of sending the message in HTML format or in Plain Text.  Plain text does not support formatting or graphics.

 

  1. At the end of the message, click Insert Signature to add your saved personalized signature.

    Note:

    If the template will be a Global template used by anyone in the dealership, you may not want to include a signature.  Instead, you may want to be sure each Web Control user has a Personal Signature created, which is added automatically to outgoing email and would be included in the template when it is sent.

  2. If you are a Manager user and want the template to be available to everyone in the dealership, select the Global check box.  Otherwise, templates are only available to the user that created them and the manager.

  3. Click Save Template to save the template.

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Merge Codes

Merge codes provide a way to quickly include personalized information in templates based on the recipient's Prospect Details record.

To insert a merge code:

  1. In the body of the message, place your cursor where you want to insert the merge code.

  2. From the Merge Code list, select the code to insert.

  3. Verify that the merge code was inserted in the proper place.

Image Merge Code

For dealerships having both Inventory Downloads and Internet Inventory Management, you may include an image of the specific vehicle of interest in the email response to the prospect. The vehicle stock number must be listed in the prospect's profile as the Vehicle of Interest. This information can be added to the prospect information if not included in the original lead by editing the Prospect Detail window.

To insert the vehicle image:

  1. Place your cursor in the body of the email where you want the image to appear.

  2. From the Merge Code list, select the [INSERT STOCK IMAGE] merge code.

  3. Click Preview to see the image in the email.

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To edit an existing template:

Note: Manager users can modify all templates.  Other users can only modify templates they have created.

  1. From the Select Template list, select the template you want to edit.

  2. Verify the Template Subject, Template Title and email message that display.

  3. Make changes to the email message information.

  4. Click Save Template when all edits are complete.

  5. Click OK when prompted to overwrite existing template.

     

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To create a new template from an existing one:

  1. From the Select Template list, select the template you want to use.

  2. Type a new title in the Title field and a new subject in the Template Subject field.

  3. Make other modifications as desired.

  4. Click Save Template. The new template is saved and the existing template is not changed.

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To add Flash content to email templates:

  1. Display the Flash content you want to use in a new Internet browser window.

  2. Click the View menu in the Internet browser window and select Source. A separate window with a Notepad document displays.

  3. From the Notepad document, select all the text and copy it.  Note: You can do this with keystrokes by using Ctrl+A to select all the text and Ctrl+C to copy it to the clipboard.

  4. In Web Control, open a new, blank template.

  5. Type a Template Subject and Title in the appropriate fields.

  6. Click the Source button in the toolbar of the Email Editor.

  7. Place your cursor in the text window and paste the information you copied to the clipboard by using the keystrokes Ctrl+V.

  8. Click Save Template to save the template.

  9. Send the template to yourself as a test to verify that it looks as expected.

To delete a template:

Note: Manager users can delete all templates.  Other users can only delete templates they have created.

  1. From the Select Template list, select the template you want to delete.

  2. Click Delete to delete the template.

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Revised: March 2010